Note: Specific investments described herein do not represent all investment decisions made by Global Predictions. The reader should not assume that investment decisions identified and discussed were or will be profitable. Specific investment advice references provided herein are for illustrative purposes only and are not necessarily representative of investments that will be made in the future.

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It’s that time of year again -- the holidays! As we say goodbye to 2021 and make resolutions for a great 2022, we encourage you to include your financial well being as part of your goal setting. What says “it’s a new year” like a new outlook on money? 

Here are 5 ways you can start 2022 on good footing. We promise that a couple of hours well spent can help you ring in the New Year with confidence. 

1. Pull together all your financial information

Student debt? Mortgage? Credit cards? Investment accounts? Stock options? Gather all your information together and get a comprehensive view of where your money is heading into the new year. 

2. See all your investments in one place with PortfolioPilot.

PortfolioPilot can bring all your financial information together through our secure external account integrations. After linking your accounts, you’ll be able to see all your investment data in one place. Understand what you have, which account it's in, and become fully literate in your own investments. 

3. Max out annual contributions to 401k and other tax privileged accounts.

Know your limits and what free cash you have to allocate. The more assets you have invested (go you!) in tax protected accounts, the higher your ultimate post-tax returns will be. Less thinking about taxes? Yes, please. 

4. Be ready for anything

How would you fare during a financial crisis? Run various scenarios using the Simulation feature (found within the left hand navigation menu in PortfolioPilot). How might your current portfolio have fared during the 2008 financial crisis? How you feel while looking at historical simulations will give you clues about how to feel more confident in your current risk profile. 

5. Have a market downturn plan and be ready to take action.

We don’t know what 2022 will hold, but we believe that volatility is on the radar. If you think a downturn could compromise your short term financial plans, meaning you’re relying on that money being there and in a good state to facilitate short term liquidity, it may be worth considering steps to risk-proof your investments through diversification or better asset allocation and calibration.   

Log into your PortfolioPilot account and use our Market Insights to check on your financial readiness for any market conditions:

• Check out your Portfolio Score: Your Portfolio Score gives you a quick snapshot of where you are, quantifying risk, downturn protection, and expected risk-returns (calculated using the Sharpe Ratio). Not happy with a 620 out of 1000? Keep reading - we’ll try to help make improvements simple and straightforward. 
• Automated portfolio optimization: look at rebalancing you can do within your existing portfolio to maximize your risk-adjusted returns. Translation: quick changes you can make without adding or removing securities to try to make your portfolio more effective at reaching your financial goals. 
• Recommendations: PortfolioPilot personalized recommends changes that would help diversify your portfolio and increase your Portfolio Score.
  

Have a safe and happy holiday season!